The Glass Menagerie

Glass Menagerie, a play by Tennessee Williams. It is a beautiful and meaningful play. It depicts the life of Wingfield family in Missouri. Amanda Wingfield, a widowed mother, lives with her two children, Tom and Laura. I will not tell the story of the play. Instead, I’ll tell my interpretation and reflection.

Amanda is a single parent after being left by her husband. She has to take care of her two children. She wants happiness for her family, especially for her daughter, Laura. However, she realizes that she may not be able to give happiness to her family for her joblessness and age. Therefore, she always recalls her sweet past memories when she was still young and charming, and many gentlemen callers would come and visit her. Eventually, her expectation doesn’t come true for her daughter’s gentleman caller is actually engaged to another woman. Besides, Tom leaves the family to follow his father’s step. These all fade the mother’s hope.

Tom Wingfield, a warehouse worker, is the younger children of Wingfield family. He is quite a selfish man. He wants a happiness, but mostly only for himself. Only after his mother asked him to do a favor to his sister, does he take an effort to make his sister happy seriously. He invites his work mate in the ware house to come and meet Laura. However, after her mother blames him for the fact that this man is engaged to another woman, Tom leaves the family and follows his father’s step. His habit to go to the movies is also a proof of his selfish characteristic and attempt to escape from his bitter reality. His pursuing of happiness is only for himself.

Laura is a crippled and shy woman. She has her own world, with her glass miniatures and a gramophone. Her glass menagerie also symbolizes her fragility and vulnerability. Her being cripple and her shyness are the vulnerable parts of her. symbolized by the breaking of her glass menagerie, however, all these vulnerability are broken by the coming of Jim O’Connor, Tom’s friend in the ware house and the person whom she admire in her high school for his voice. She is happy being loved and cared by Jim. She becomes normal like an ordinary woman which is symbolized by the breaking of the horn of her unicorn glass statue making it same as other horse statues. But, eventually, she becomes even more vulnerable after knowing that Jim is engaged.

As I reflect on the play, I find these three main figures symbolize human beings. Everyone has desire to be happy, just like Amanda does. Usually, however, not being abele to achieve it, people tend to look behind their past, recalling the past sweet memories and live in it. Tom represents human lust and selfishness. He wants happiness too, but mostly only for himself. We can’t deny that in everyone, there is an egoism leading to the pursuing of selfish happiness. While Laura’s characteristic symbolize defects, lacking of self confidence and imperfections everyone has. To be a happy person, one needs not only a desire or willing, but one has to also overcome one’s selfishness and defects.